Wishing on a Tree

So this last Sunday I was running around early in the a.m. doing my usual errands and came across something that touched me so much I just wanted to share with all of you.

Out and about in a nearby city looking for the perfect birthday present for my brother who has everything...I happened upon a sight of about 20 or so of these in a pretty little courtyard amongst some stores. Amongst them were the usual cafe tables and chairs but this time with little boxes of pencils and tags waiting for wishes. And the following was summarized in signs nearby...

"Make a wish, write it on a piece of paper and tie it to the branch of a Wish Tree in Yoko Ono’s participatory installation in Pasadena. Ono, the avant-garde artist and widow of John Lennon, attached wishes to trees in temple courtyards as a child in Japan. Now the act of wishing, which she describes as a “collective prayer,” is part of an ongoing tribute to her late husband. All of the wishes from the current installation will be saved and later buried at Ono’s public art project, the Imagine Peace Tower, in Reykjavík, Iceland."

I thought quickly...now let's see...if I had a wish to make what would I wish for...uh...I KNOW! ;)

Then I started looking around reading others wishes. And my heart just was touched in so many ways. Many opted to wish for world peace, or a greener world, or less pain and suffering. I felt sort of bad at first writing my own selfish needs on my wish tag. But then I read more...like a man wishing to marry Cindy. A child wishing for a great birthday. And a just starting out college student wishing to successfully get through his/her college career and successfully go on to get a great job. And another from parents wishing their son to return home from war healthy and harm-free.

These were all important wishes to each person that took time to thoughtfully write out their wish on the tag and tie it to a tree branch. No matter what they were.

There weren't many people there since it was early in the morning for a Sunday but you could see a few thoughtfully scribbling down some of their wishes on nearby tree. So I did exactly that too. I strategically picked out the tree with the most flowers on it (thinking it was the most fertile) and wrote on my wish tag "I wish to have a successful and healthy pregnancy this year". I added healthy because we all know that successful doesn't mean much these days. And as well added the time factor...because a successful and healthy pregnancy 8 years from now isn't going to do a damn thing for me. And tied it to my tree. I thought hell I've prayed to every other God there is...why not tie a wish to a tree.

Just standing there with all those trees full of wishes felt so incredibly powerful, I wish all of you could have felt it. It was like I could hear every one's hopes and dreams whispered at once. It was quite amazing.

Tomorrow is official testing day. And our 3rd anniversary. Here's to a wish on a tree coming true.